Grand National 2026 horses at Aintree: time, tickets, race programme, prize money, runners and what to know

Grand National 2026 horses are now coming into sharp focus at Aintree Racecourse, as the three-day Randox Grand National Festival runs from 9 to 11 April 2026, culminating in Britain’s most iconic horse race on Saturday 11 April. The headline contest, the Randox Grand National Handicap Steeple Chase, is currently listed on the official festival race programme for 5.00pm on Grand National Day, yet a separate The Jockey Club event page still states the Grand National 2026 horse race will begin at 4pm, creating a clear timing discrepancy that racegoers, bettors and viewers should verify via official channels before travelling or planning their day.The festival itself runs across 21 races, with Aintree opening its gates at 10am on Grand National Day and offering tickets, group bookings and hospitality packages through the official Jockey Club platform. The race remains the centrepiece of British jump racing, with a field capped at 34 runners, a distance of 4 miles 2½ furlongs, and a total race value that has been lifted to £1 million, including £500,000 to the winner. At the top of the 2026 conversation are I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett, the last two winners, both coming back into a race that again looks heavily shaped by Willie Mullins’ yard. Reported by The WP Times, citing The Jockey Club, BBC Sport, The Guardian, Racing Post and British racing sources.

For readers searching terms such as horse, grand national race horses, grand national 2026, grand national, livescore, Nick Rockett, grand national 2026 runners, grand national sweepstake 2026, what time is the grand national 2026, grand national odds, Aintree races and grand national 2026 sweepstake, the key point is that this year’s race combines old champions, top-weight pressure, a safety-led field limit and a packed festival schedule that matters well beyond one four-mile marathon.

What time is the Grand National 2026

This is the first detail people are checking, and it is also the one that currently needs the most care. The official Jockey Club page answering “What time is the Grand National 2026?” says the race “will be 11 April 2026 at 4pm”. However, the official event schedule page for Grand National Day lists the Randox Grand National Handicap Steeple Chase at 5.00pm, after the Jet2 Liverpool Hurdle at 4.00pm. Because both pages come from official Grand National/Jockey Club sources, the practical advice is simple: if you are planning travel, hospitality or television timing, treat the official schedule as essential and re-check on the day.

What is not in doubt is the date and venue. The race is on Saturday 11 April 2026 at Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool, as part of the final day of the three-day Randox Grand National Festival. Gates on Grand National Day open at 10am, which matters for anyone booking hospitality, arriving by train, or wanting time to study the card before the major races begin.

Grand National Festival 2026 programme: full event structure

The Randox Grand National Festival runs from Thursday 9 April to Saturday 11 April 2026. The Jockey Club states that the meeting includes 21 races across the three days. That means this is not just one race, but a full Aintree showcase built around Opening Day, Ladies Day and Grand National Day. Here is the core structure:

On Grand National Day, the official schedule page shows the following late-afternoon sequence:

The same schedule page also shows late-race timings from the other festival days, including the JCB Melling Steeple Chase at 4.05pm, the Randox Topham Handicap Steeple Chase at 4.40pm, and the Oddschecker Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at 5.15pm. So if someone says “Aintree races”, they are talking about a major, layered festival card, not just the National itself.

Tickets, hospitality and how to attend

The official Jockey Club ticketing page confirms that tickets for the Randox Grand National 2026 are on sale through the official site and that buyers can choose between Opening Day tickets, Ladies Day tickets, Grand National Day tickets, group bookings and several types of hospitality packages. Those hospitality options include restaurant packages, private boxes and grandstand/pavilion executive box experiences. That means visitors broadly have three routes:

The official ticket page does not display a clean public price list in the scraped text returned here, so I cannot responsibly state exact 2026 ticket prices from the material I could verify. What is clear is that official booking is live and segmented by day and package type.

Prize money: what the winner gets in 2026

The prize-money story is one of the biggest practical changes around the 2026 race. Jockey Club material on the new Randox Grand National bonus says the race’s prize money for 2026 is £1 million. Racing Post’s Grand National guide states that the winner’s first prize is £500,000. A separate Jockey Club press release explains that winners of the Becher Chase, Classic Chase or Grand National Trial who go on to win the Grand National can effectively turn that into a £1 million payday through the bonus mechanism. So the key prize picture looks like this:

That is why the Grand National remains commercially huge: it is not only Britain’s most famous jumps race, but a race whose economics now matter even more to owners, trainers, jockeys and punters.

Distance, fences and race conditions

The 2026 Grand National is run over 4 miles 2½ furlongs and includes 30 fences, the classic examination of stamina, rhythm and jumping that has made the race globally famous. The field is capped at 34 runners, a figure reduced from the old larger fields as part of safety reforms. Several recent racing explainers note that the field limit was cut to 34 and the minimum rating threshold was raised, while official and industry welfare messaging continues to emphasise safety and welfare measures around the race.

That makes the modern Grand National different from the old image some casual viewers still carry. It is still dramatic and unpredictable, but it is also more tightly managed in terms of field size, race conditions and welfare messaging than in previous eras.

Grand National 2026 runners: the main horses to know

The dominant early headline is simple: I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett head the field. BBC Sport’s report says the two most recent winners lead the 2026 line-up, both trained by Willie Mullins. BBC also noted a maximum of 34 runnershad been declared, with reserves waiting for any late changes before the cut-off.

The Guardian’s detailed horse-by-horse guide and other current coverage point to the following horses as central names in the 2026 race picture:

I Am Maximus

I Am Maximus is the obvious headline horse. The Guardian describes him as the 2024 winner, returning to Aintree after backing up that performance with a strong second-place effort behind Nick Rockett a year later. The same report says his Aintree aptitude is one of his major weapons, even if carrying top weight remains a serious challenge because no top-weight winner has managed the feat since the era of Red Rum.

Nick Rockett

Nick Rockett is not just a defending winner; he is a horse trying to do something historically significant. Current race previews say he is attempting to emulate Tiger Roll, who won back-to-back Nationals in 2018 and 2019, and before that only the very greatest names such as Red Rum had managed such repeat success.

Grangeclare West

Grangeclare West is one of the most serious alternatives in the Mullins squad. The Guardian says he was third last year, won the Bobbyjo Chase in February and would likely have finished even closer at Aintree last time without a costly late mistake, although his jumping remains a concern.

Other serious names

The Guardian and current market coverage also highlight Banbridge, Gerri Colombe, Haiti Couleurs, Jagwar, Oscars Brother, Panic Attack, Johnnywho and Stellar Story as part of the broader competitive shape of the race, though not all come with the same blend of proven Aintree suitability and stamina certainty.

What the betting market is saying

Because you asked for detail, it is worth separating market position from guaranteed outcome. Current coverage points to I Am Maximus as the market leader at about 7-1, with Grangeclare West and others close behind, though odds can and do move. The BBC summary in the material you provided listed approximate odds around 7-1 I Am Maximus, 9-1 Grangeclare West, 10-1 Jagwar, 12-1 Iroko and Panic Attack, and 14-1 Haiti Couleurs and Johnnywho. Current news reports also broadly align with I Am Maximus at the head of the market. A practical market table looks like this:

Livescore, TV coverage and how people will follow the race

For readers searching livescore, the Grand National is one of the easiest races of the British sporting calendar to follow live. The official Grand National schedule marks major races for ITV coverage, including the Grand National festival card. BBC Sport also says there will be full radio commentary and reaction through BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds, with live text on the BBC Sport website and app.

That means racegoers and home viewers typically follow the meeting through three channels at once:
television pictures, bookmaker/app in-running data, and live text/audio updates. For high-interest races such as the National, that combination effectively functions as a national livescore environment even if different platforms label it differently.

Grand National sweepstake 2026: why it remains so popular

The grand national sweepstake 2026 remains part of the race’s social power. Racing Post has published a dedicated 2026 Aintree Grand National sweepstake guide, showing just how strong public demand is for office pools, family draws and casual once-a-year participation. Their sweepstake piece reiterates the essentials: 34 horses, 4 miles 2½ furlongs, 30 fences, and a £500,000 winner’s prize.

The reason sweepstakes work so well with this race is simple. Unlike a routine Saturday card, the Grand National is one of the few horse races where even people who never usually bet know the names, the fences and the spectacle. That is also why search demand for phrases like grand national 2026 sweepstake and what time is the grand national 2026spikes sharply in the final days before the race.

Why Aintree matters beyond one race

Aintree is not just the venue; it is part of the event’s identity. The Grand National page, ticket pages and schedule all position the meeting as a flagship of the Jockey Club portfolio, with branded hospitality, premium race-day experiences and a full festival build around the main Saturday contest. The Grand Guide page also describes itself as the hub for festival entertainment announcements, racing news and hospitality updates, showing how the event is packaged as both elite sport and a mass-attendance live occasion. So when people search Aintree races, they are not merely searching a venue timetable. They are searching one of the biggest annual fixtures in the British sporting and social calendar.

The biggest practical points for racegoers

If you are turning this into a reader-friendly article or service piece, these are the practical points that matter most:

The strongest 2026 angle is not just that the Grand National 2026 runners are now taking shape. It is that this year’s race brings together three powerful threads at once: the return of recent champions, a bigger commercial prize structure, and continued scrutiny over timing, welfare and race design. I Am Maximus has the class and the Aintree record; Nick Rockett has the chance to turn one victory into legacy; Grangeclare West, Iroko, Jagwar and others are trying to exploit any weakness in the proven stars. The result is a National that looks familiar in name, but more